Westpac Stadium – Wellington

1‘The Cake Tin’ is one of New Zealand’s best-loved venues, hosting the All Blacks, the Black Caps, the Lions, the Phoenix and a huge range of sports and cultural events. Underneath and above the seats there’s some very clever engineering in the underlying structure – and ensuring the stadium creates a great atmosphere and experience for up to 37,000 patrons.

2Holmes Consulting was at the heart of the development, with our drafters helping to create and present bold pre-cast concrete design ideas that supported the ambitious vision for the stadium. Our design work involved some ‘Myth busters’ style wind tunnel testing of the roof structure and—because Wellington is (sometimes) subject to high winds – development of a special roof edge treatment to control wind actions and forces. The project pioneered the large scale use of lightweight concrete, with a brand new approach that maximised efficiency and reduced cost. This was one of the largest precast concrete construction developments in the country: an ambitious project that we were delighted to have the chance to work on.

3Westpac Stadium was won the ACENZ Gold Medal award, the IPENZ Supreme Building Award, Property Council New Zealand and NZIA Award. It’s also played host to some superb events, like Bon Jovi’s concert, or the All Blacks clinical 40-7 deconstruction of the mighty ‘Boks pack a few years ago.